After an abrupt cymbal crash that opens Hawthorne, CA foursome Dios’ née Dios (Malos), new namesake album, the sound fizzles out into a swirling drone of reverb and serenity. The sound finds a low-point groove and Joel Morales sings alcohol and dumb decision go hand and hand when they’re around…epileptic tunnel vision, my body hit the ground supported by a Beach Boys harmony and a through-the-rabbit-hole lead up as the song paces itself for the segue into the group’s third album of progged-out, rainy-day songs that drift through a seaside carnival-like haze.
Most tracks flow through a sound falling somewhere between an out-of-phase computer-modded Syd Barrett (“Toss my Cookies” is the best song about ice cream sandwiches you’ve ever heard), a prog-rock drip and a more-than perfect contemporary nod to their hometown heroes, the Wilson family. There is certainly an underlying theme of a disdainful view of their modern, seemingly out-of-touch world, as Morales sings of boredom, age and getting drunk/stoned (modern man is all I am, feeling wrong and crawling on).
Apart from leaving you wanting to scoff at it all, telling the band to simply “get used to it,” the results instead manage to effectively leave the listener feeling sonically incapacitated, content and craving more. We Are Dios (Buddyhead) is certainly an early 2010 album worth looking out for.
--Matt Draper
